John Oliver

Eli Roth

Eli Roth presenting the award for Best Comedy at The 2017 All American High School Film Festival Teen Indie Awards!

Eli Roth is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, first coming to prominence by directing the 2005 film Hostel and its 2007 sequel, Hostel: Part II. As an actor, his most prominent role was as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's war film Inglourious Basterds for which he won both a SAG Award (Best Ensemble) and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award (Best Acting Ensemble).

John Legend

John Legend presenting the award for Best Original Score at The 2017 All American High School Film Festival Teen Indie Awards!

Andrew Jenks

Festival founder Andrew Jenks is an award-winning filmmaker that has lived and filmed all over the world. At age 19, Andrew moved into an assisted living facility in order to capture the true essence of this often overlooked community. What started as a simple, low-­‐budget documentary turned into an international hit. ANDREW JENKS, ROOM 335, starring Jenks and a group of elderly facility residents, went on to win top prizes at a number of domestic and international film festivals. The film premiered in theaters and on television around the world. HBO released the film domestically in January 2008 to rave reviews and critical acclaim.

At 21-years-old, ESPN financed Andrew’s second film, THE ZEN OF BOBBY V, which tracked Bobby Valentine, an American baseball coach who has become a national icon in Japan. The film premiered at the 2008 TriBeca Film Festival.

In 2010, Jenks created MTV’s WORLD OF JENKS, focusing on stories not normally told: from a young homeless woman, to a physically abused football star, to a young adult with Autism. Jenks imbeds wholeheartedly into disparate lives and in the process pioneers a new style of storytelling for the millennial generation. The series launch garnered over 5 million viewers, marking MTV's highest rated series launch ever. Season 2 of WORLD OF JENKS expanded to hour long episodes, as Jenks followed three subjects over the course of a year.

2013 has proven to be a busy year for Andrew. He launched the largest high school film festival in the country, The All American High School Film Festival, at the AMC Theaters in Times Square; made an 8 episode web series for GANT clothing, It's About A Girl; and is currently working on a documentary for ESPN due out soon, a feature documentary for The MAC AIDS Fund due out in September and an untitled feature documentary on Ryan Ferguson.

Henry Winkler

Henry Winkler believes there is no such thing as failure. So try, try and try again. See what he has to say about your short films.

Henry Winkler is an American actor, director, comedian, producer, and author. Winkler is known for his role as Arthur Fonzarelli in the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days. "The Fonz", or "Fonzie", a leather-clad greaser, hot rodder and auto mechanic, started out as a minor character at the show's beginning, but had achieved top billing by the time the show ended. He also starred as Sy Mittleman on Adult Swim's Childrens Hospital and starred as Eddie R. Lawson on USA Networks's Royal Pains. Winkler was also a recurring guest star on Parks and Recreation.

Carlton Cuse

Carlton Cuse is an American screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer and screenwriter for the American television seriesLost for which he made theTime Magazine list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. Cuse is also considered a pioneer in transmedia storytelling.

Diablo Cody

Diablo Cody is an American writer, producer, stripper and exotic dancer. She first became known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her "The Pussy Ranch" blog and in her memoir Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper (2005). Later, Cody achieved critical acclaim for her debut script Juno (2007), winning awards such as the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay.

She is also known for creating, writing and producing Showtime's television series United States of Tara (2009–2011) and for writing and producing the films Jennifer's Body (2009) and Young Adult (2011). For the latter, she received a second nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. Her directorial debut, Paradise, was released on October 18, 2013.

Alysia Reiner

Alysia Reiner is an American actress and producer. Reiner is best known for playing Natalie "Fig" Figueroa in the Netflix comedy drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2017) for which she won a SAG award for her role as part of the ensemble cast.

Reiner starred in and produced the financial drama, EQUITY, which was bought at Sundance by Sony Pictures Classics and was released nationwide. It is now being developed into a TV series by Tri-Star and ABC. Reiner has appeared in several Off-Broadway plays and won an Obie Award for her performance in An Oak Tree. In Sideways, the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film, Reiner played Christine Ergarian, where she won her first ensemble cast SAG award. She plays D.A. Wendy Parks in the ABC crime-legal drama TV series, How to Get Away with Murder and Sunny in the F/X comedy Better Things. In 2016, she also appeared in Season 4 of Masters of Sex on Showtime, as Lilian Izikoff on Rosewood, and Fiona in Michael Showalter's TBS series Search Party.

Josh Schwartz

Josh Schwartz became the youngest person in network television history to create and run a series when “The O.C.” premiered on FOX in 2003. He launched two additional series in 2007, “Gossip Girl” for The CW and “Chuck” for NBC. Schwartz created a fourth series in 2009, but turned to the web rather than a broadcast network for his “Rockville, CA.” In 2010, he and longtime friend and colleague Stephanie Savage launched Fake Empire, an entertainment company that develops and produces television series and motion pictures. The company has a first look feature deal at Universal Studios and a first look television deal at ABC Studios where he is executive producing the upcoming “Astronaut Wives Club,”“Hart of Dixie,” and “The Carrie Diaries.”

On the features side, Fake Empire has a 2-year first look deal with Universal Pictures, under which Schwartz and Savage will write and produce the live-action adaptation of Monster High® slated for an October 7, 2016 release date. The film is based on Mattel’s billion dollar doll franchise with 120 characters related to Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, Medusa and other creatures from horror and sci-fi movies and fantasy fare. Fake Empire produced Universal’s “Endless Love,” which was released February 2014 starring Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde.

Chole Bennet

Chloe Bennet is an American actress and singer. She is best know for the ABC Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Brianna Brown

Award winning Minnesota born actress Brianna Brown has starred in numerous high profile roles throughout the years. She is most recognized for her role on the hit series Homeland on Showtime and as the "love to hate" villain Dr. Lisa Niles on ABC's Emmy award winning General Hospital. Brianna was a regular during season one of the hit series Devious Maids on Lifetime. Brianna is an Ambassador for the National Women's History Museum and a managing director for her production company Brown Rose Productions. Brianna founded "The New Hollywood" Women's Goal Group Inc. to encourage women in the entertainment industry to achieve their personal and professional best as well as be positive role models within the entertainment industry.

Bobby Roth

Bobby Roth was born and raised in Los Angeles. He studied philosophy and creative writing at UC Berkeley before graduating with a BA in Cinema from USC in 1972. He went on to film school at UCLA, where he received his MFA in Motion Picture Production in 1975. Since then he has directed more than eighty episodes of television, twenty-five TV movies, and thirteen feature films. He was a founding member of the Independent Feature Project and the first Co-Chairman of the DGA’s Independent Feature Committee. His films have won countless awards and have been exhibited in over 100 international film festivals. He also teaches film seminars throughout the world. He still resides in Los Angeles, actively working in the entertainment industry.

John Oliver presenting the award for Best Comedy at The 2017 All American High School Film Festival Teen Indie Awards!

John Oliver is a British comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor and television host. Since 2014 he has been the host of the HBO political talk-show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He is the recipient of a Peabody Award, nine Primetime Emmys and three Writers Guild awards.

Ed Burns

Ed Burns talks about our 2014 Festival!

Ed Burns is an American actor, film producer, writer, and director best known for appearing in several films like Saving Private Ryan (1998) and One Missed Call (2008). Burns made his directorial debut with movies such as The Brothers McMullen (1995), She's the One (1996) and Sidewalks of New York (2001). In 2013, Ed judged our Drama and Made in NY categories and was also an essential part of our Awards Ceremony, offering valuable insights to all attendees.

Brittany Snow

Brittany Snow was last seen starring in Universal’s franchise hit Pitch Perfect 2 alongside Anna Kendrick, directed by Elizabeth Banks. Her past film credits include a handful of versatile roles such as starring role in Fox’s John Tucker Must Die, New Line’s Hairspray, and Lee Toland Krieger’s critically acclaimed The Vicious Kid (which was an Official Sundance Selection 2011 and nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards), and more recently, starring in Maggie Kiley’s Dial-A-Prayer. Her television credits include FX’s drama NIP/TUCK created by Ryan Murphy, Fox’s coming of age comedyBen And Kate, Neil LaBute’s Full Circle for DirecTV, Harry's Law with Kathy Bates, Call Me Crazy alongside Octavia Spencer, and will next seen on Comedy Central’s Workaholics. In 2015, Brittany launched a TV/Film Production company Pun Intended Productions with partner Courtney Knowles her co-founder in The Love is Louder Movement. They are currently in preproduction on TheLove Is Louder documentary with Andrew Jenks directing for Something Kreative Productions.

Dylan McDermott

Dylan McDermott talks with AAHSFF all of the young filmmakers out there about believing in yourself!

Danny Rose

Danny Rose talks with AAHSFF in 2013 and shares his advice to young filmmakers.

Danny Rose has been producing episodic television for the last 20 years, enjoying a reputation of delivering quality and consistently high-rated entertainment with much sought-after talent including directors, writers, singers, authors and actors. Danny currently serves as an Executive Producer on the hit CBS drama series Scorpion, currently in season 3.

Danny started his broadcast network career in New York City after attaining a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts on the successful show Spin City with Michael J. Fox. After the first 3 seasons, Touchstone TV (now ABC Studios) moved Danny to Los Angeles to run development and produce with writer/show runner Bill Lawrence. One of their first pitches was purchased and Danny went on to produce all 182 episodes of the nine-seasoned, Emmy-nominated Scrubs with Zach Braff. He also produced all six seasons (102 episodes) of Cougar Town with Courteney Cox until 2015.

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart is an American actress and model. Born in Los Angeles to parents working in show business, Stewart began her acting career in 1999 with uncredited roles and a minor character appearance in several films. She gained notice in 2002 for playing Jodie Foster's daughter in the thriller

Panic Room, which garnered her a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Feature Film. She went on to star in Speak (2004), Catch That Kid (2004), Zathura (2005), and Into The Wild (2007), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She received widespread recognition in 2008 for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga film series (2008–12), which grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide.

Stewart has appeared in a wide variety of films, including Adventureland (2009), The Runaways (2010), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), On the Road (2012), Camp X-Ray (2014), Still Alice (2014) and Equals (2015). She won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2010 and was awarded the Milan International Film Festival Award for Best Actress in 2011 for Welcome to the Rileys (2010). In 2015, she received critical acclaim for her role opposite Juliette Binoche in Clouds of Sils Maria, for which she won a multitude of accolades, including the César Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first American actress to win a César Award. She starred in Personal Shopper (2016), written for her by director Olivier Assayas, who had worked with her in the previous film.

Stewart was listed as the highest-earning female actress in the Vanity Fair "Hollywood Top Earners List of 2010," with an estimated earning of $28.5 million. In 2011, she was named number one on Forbes' list of "Hollywood's Best Actors for the Buck." Forbes also named her as the highest paid actress in 2012, with total earnings of $34.5 million.[5] She is the "face" of Chanel and Balenciaga fashion brands.

Toni Myers

Toni Myers most recently produced and directed acclaimed 2010 space documentary “Hubble 3D,” narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. Prior to that, she served as a producer, editor and co-writer for director Howard Hall’s 2009 underwater IMAX® 3D adventure “Under the Sea 3D,” narrated by Jim Carrey. She previously teamed with Hall in the same capacity on the highly successful “Deep Sea 3D,” which won Best Large Format Film awards at the prestigious WildScreen and Jackson Hole Natural History film festivals, and has grossed nearly $97 million.

David Alan Basche

David Alan Basche is one of a handful of actors who can "do it all." He's been a series regular on many TV comedies and dramas, but has also worked for Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Paul Greengrass, Shawn Levy, Robert Zemeckis, Michael Patrick King, Gary Winick, George Nolfi and more. He's flirted with Julia Roberts, stolen Tom Cruise's wife, berated Brooke Shields, married (and divorced) Debra Messing, and snubbed Sarah Jessica and Mr. Big. But don't let his screen credits fool you: he's a trained theatre actor with serious on-stage chops. For example, he and the legendary Eli Wallach did a smash hit two-character play in New York, playing eight shows a week for over a year. And his memorable star turn in the powerful play "SnakeBit" had the NY Times saying "Basche is sensational in the role, a brash and sensitive bull-in-a-psychic-china shop."

Stephanie Savage

As the co-creator and executive producer of the hit CW drama series “Gossip Girl,” Stephanie Savage kept millions of viewers hooked on the exploits of young Upper East Siders ‘Serena’ and ‘Blair.’ The pop culture phenomenon, which wrapped its sixth season in 2012, was a trendsetter from the very beginning. And before “XOXO,” there was “Welcome to the O.C., Bitch,” the popular FOX series “The O.C.,” which followed the exploits of young Southern Californians living in Newport Beach. Savage wrote the iconic episode, “The Best Chrismukkah Ever” in 2003, and two years later began writing exclusively for the series where she eventually became an executive producer. Along the way, she also produced the series’ successful soundtrack CDs. In 2010, she and longtime friend and colleague Josh Schwartz co-founded the entertainment company Fake Empire, which develops and produces television series and motion pictures, web content, music and literature. The company has a first look feature deal at Universal Studios and a television first look deal at ABC Studios. Savage serves as executive producer on the company’s series “Hart of Dixie,” “The Carrie Diaries,” and the upcoming “Astronaut Wives Club” which she is also writing. The show is based on Lily Koppel’s book of the same name. Set in the 1960’s, it tells the story of the women who stood behind some of the most recognized astronauts in America’s history.

On the features side, Fake Empire has a 2-year first look deal with Universal Pictures, under which Savage and Schwartz will write and produce the live-action adaptation of Monster High® slated for an October 7, 2016 release date. The film is based on Mattel’s billion dollar doll franchise with 120 characters related to Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, Medusa and other creatures from horror and sci-fi movies and fantasy fare. Fake Empire produced Universal’s “Endless Love,” which was released February 2014 starring Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde.

Robert Wuhl

Robert Wuhl is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is perhaps best known as the creator and star of the television comedy series Arliss (1996–2002) and for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

Rachel Nichols

Rachel Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s. She transitioned into television and film acting in the early 2000s; she had a part in the romantic drama film

Autumn in New York (2000) and a one-episode role in Season 4 of the show Sex and the City (2002).

Her first major role was in the comedy film Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). She had the main role in the crime drama television series The Inside (2005). Nichols gained recognition playing Rachel Gibson in the final season of the action television series Alias (2005–2006) and for her role in the horror film The Amityville Horror(2005).

Nichols' first starring film role was in the horror-thriller P2 (2007). She had a supporting role in the coming-of-age film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) and appeared in Star Trek (2009). She starred in the action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and also in the sword and sorcery film Conan the Barbarian (2011). She played lead roles in the television series Criminal Minds(2010–2011) and Continuum (2012–2015). She starred in the 2011 movie A Bird of the Air.